New Orleans Voodoo

New Orleans is stock full of folk tales of Voodoo practitioners
who can transform into animals or cause animals to invade others. Rather
than transforming into wolves, the Voodouns are generally reported as
becoming cats.As late as the 1940’s, stories of frogs,
snakes, lizards and snails inside the bodies of the cursed flooded New
Orleans. Family members’ bearing witness to these creatures expelling
from the bodies and then disappearing shrouded numerous cases of
unexplained deaths. In Jim Haskin’s book, “Voodoo and Hoodoo”, the
author records actual spells that were supposedly used to invoke living
creatures in the body. The spells usually involved the blood of the
creature or a powder made from the dead creature being introduced into
the food of the intended victim. Once ingested, the victim proceeds to
grow living creatures in the stomach, veins or under the skin. Needless
to say, there were spells for casting out living creatures in the body
as well. Herbs were generally used to cleanse the body and drive away
any living creatures that may have been inflicted!

One
can only assume that much of the legends that have arisen in New Orleans
were spawned by fear and superstition. It is human nature to fear what
we do not understand. Voodoo could be perhaps, one of the most
misunderstood religions that have ever existed. Its presence in New
Orleans has brought with it a veil of mysticism that has shrouded our
fair city and confused its onlookers. The magical history and folklore
of New Orleans even inspired local best selling author, Anne Rice, to
produce a string of novels about a family of witches, The Mayfair’s. No
matter what one’s opinion may be of Voodoo and Witchcraft, no one can
come to New Orleans and not be curious as to its wonder.

The roots of Voodoo have been traced all the way back to Africa before
1100 AD. In his book, A Brief History of Voodoo: Slavery & the
Survival of The African Gods, Mr. Andy Antippas gives an overview of
this fascinating history. The Yoruba people of Southwestern and eastern
Dahomey and Togo/Nigeria founded a great city called Ife. It is from the
religious beliefs of Ife that Voodoo as we know it today has evolved.The
Voodoo religion is based on one main supreme deity and several
demi-gods called loas or lwas. The loas are much to Voodoo as the Saints
are to Catholicism. Each one serving a specific purpose. It is
estimated that by the 1750’s, 30,000 slaves a year were being immigrated
into Haiti bringing with them the Voodoo religion. In the language of
the Dahomey tribes, the word Voodoo means Gods or Spirits. The Dahomians
believed that these spirits had the ability to enter the
worshippers. This was believed to be a valuable experience, warding off
illness and misfortune.

One of the most supreme and
powerful loas is Damballah-Wedo, the serpent god. He is represented in
Voodoo rituals by a snake. The dance with the snake symbolizes the unity
between our world and the world beyond. The dancer and the snake become
one.

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